Japan’s GDP Slumps

Travelers and commuters walk on the concourse of JR Tokyo Station, in Tokyo on August 13, 2014. Japan’s economy shrank in the latest quarter as a sales tax hike slammed the brakes on spending by the nation’s households and companies, the first significant pullback since late 2012, government data showed on August 13. (Kashuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

Japan’s economy contracted at an annual rate of 6.8 percent in the second quarter, after rising almost that amount in the first quarter. Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to take a look at what is going on with Japan’s gross domestic product.